You know that health insurance reform bill that got passed last year? The one that so many on the right claim is a “Big Government takeover of health care” and so many on the left said was completely worthless? Below are the dozen provisions that kicked in yesterday (from the Kaiser Family Foundation). Minimum Medical Loss Ratio for InsurersRequires health […]

File this is in the “Are you fucking kidding me?” category: Georgia state Rep. Bobby Franklin (R) has sponsored legislation to force the state to conduct all monetary transactions with U.S. gold or silver coins. Pre-1965 silver coins, silver eagles, and gold eagles shall be the exclusive medium which the state shall use to make any payments whatsoever to any […]

Sarah Palin now claims her use of the word “refudiate” was a “typo”. She is, of course, a bald-faced liar. “I pressed an ‘f’ instead of a ‘d’ and people freaked out,” says Ms. Palin, in a clip being broadcast on her reality TV show. ~SNIP~ [T]he record suggests the original Twitter message was no typo. In fact, she had […]

Don’t ask me why I do it but I’m signed up for the Tea Party Nation’s email service. Several times a day I get emails where the teabaggers express their outrage and indignation at the latest government or liberal related atrocity. Last night’s missive was a doozy. MEANWHILE, PRESIDENT OBAMA IS IN HAWAII. (membership req’d.) I’ve been waiting patiently to […]

You know how you’ve been waiting for your jetpack? You know, a REAL jetpack that can go for at least a half hour and go over 30 miles? Well, it’s here. Introducing the Martin Jetpack: All for the low, low price of [gulp] $100,000. I thought they would be smaller. And quieter. I’m so picky. Video HERE. I’m just sayin’…

Coolest marketing idea ever by a company that is clearly thinking outside of the box: Spanair. And they truly seem to love their customers. The airline put together Christmas gifts together for an entire jetful of Christmas Day passengers. As they waited for their luggage, Christmas presents started coming out. With the passengers’ names on them. The best part was […]

In 2008, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) was created as a barely-noticed add-on to the 2008 Farm Bill, signed into law by George W. Bush. What sounded like a good idea — funding the use of waste biomass (sawdust, etc.) for biofuels and other uses — turned out to be not such a good idea. Complaints about the program […]

[Bumped as a reminder for all our Obama-supporting friends who may have missed it the first time.] Yesterday during the speech he gave before signing the bill repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell into law, President Obama said this: That is why I say to all Americans, gay or straight, who want nothing more than to defend this country in uniform: […]

Many so-called progressives are reluctant to give President Obama any credit for the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. This is an opinion not borne out by “the facts on the ground”, so to speak. Early in his administration, the President brought in military leaders like Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, Chair of the […]

I have adored Michelle Obama from the moment I first heard about her and her amazing life. I am particularly enamored of her connection with children; both her own and the children of the USA in general. But, honestly, how cool is this? On Christmas Eve, the First Lady spent about 40 minutes talking to kids who were tracking Santa […]

This is a repost. “Two North” is a story about one Christmas when my mom was spending time on the psychiatric ward of our town’s hospital after trying to commit suicide to escape a physically-abusive husband. I was thirteen. It was a cataclysmic event in our lives but it brought us together into a two-person tribe like no other event […]